Proving leadership can come from any birthplace, the Hawaii basketball team selected post player Zigmars Raimo and point guard Drew Buggs as captains.

Raimo is a 6-foot-9 senior who was born and reared in Latvia. Buggs, who also can play shooting guard and the wing, is a fourth-year junior who grew up in Long Beach, Calif.

“It’s always a joint process,” coach Eran Ganot said of selecting captains. “We have a couple things we do to identify our best leaders, and the players are heavily involved. After all that, it became those two guys emerged.”

Raimo has transformed from a 252-pound freshman to a 227-pound, multi-skilled player who can move between power post and stretch four.

“He’s one of the toughest players in the league, one of the most improved players,” Ganot said. “He stands out to (teammates) as the guy you want to watch in terms of how he goes to work every day.”

In previous seasons, Raimo strayed from the low post only to set screens. Of his 264 field-goal attempts last season, all but one was launched inside the 3-point stripe. This season, he is expected to widen his offense. This summer, he spent hours working on a 3-point shot, left-handed dribbling and passing.

In the past, Raimo deferred to older players. “It’s all about respect,” Raimo said. “Even if they’re not always right in basketball plays, you just respect older guys because they usually know more than I do. I learned from them, and respected them.”

In turn, Ganot noted, Raimo earned younger teammates’ trust. That helped in Raimo’s transition into a leadership role. “Now he’s in position to use the credibility he’s earned and use his voice more,” Ganot said. “You can’t have a voice without credibility. He’s earned that. Now we need his voice.”

Last season, Buggs was granted what essentially was a captain’s apprenticeship. While Brocke Stepteau, who graduated in May, held the captain’s title, Buggs was assigned some leadership duties.

“I wanted him to get used to the process of getting to know the officials, having that rapport with them so it could help him for this year,” Ganot said of Buggs. “I think he’s off to a good start.”

In the first two weeks of training camp, Buggs has dazzled with his improved outside shooting. Last season, he connected on 46.6 percent of his shots, but only 26.7 percent from behind the arc.

Buggs, who remained in Hawaii during the summer, participated in extra workouts in addition to the team’s offseason training. He said each session would involve about 200 jumpers from 3-point range. He also worked on his mid-range floater.

“In the past, I didn’t have as much confidence (in the 3-point shot) and I had a lot of great shooters around me,” Buggs said. “I made it a priority to find those guys. Those were our best shooters. I want to be one of those guys who’s relied on to be a good shooter.”

Now, Buggs also is being counted on for leadership.

“That’s something I take great pride in,” Buggs said. “It’s an honor to be a captain at the University of Hawaii. I’m going to try to live up to it each and every day.”

The Warriors will stage their annual Green-White scrimmage Saturday in the Stan Sheriff Center. Tipoff is at 1 p.m. The Warriors have been short-handed in recent workouts. Post player Owen Hulland and guard Ahmed Ali are among the players who have been held out of practices because of ailments.